I am trying to re-adjust how much effort I want to put into privacy concerns. Too much stuff I’m using isn’t working properly or using a lot of my mental resources that I need elsewhere.
For (a bad) example: I recently performed a half-switch from my self-hosted Nextcloud instance to ProtonDrive, in the hope that it would spare me the stress to maintain my private Nextcloud. Unfortunately, it doesn’t, as basic functionality like cross-device-sync is not possible (there isn’t even a client app for Linux, as of yet).
This brings me to the question: have you found any services/apps/stuff that significantly eases your life while still being privacy friendly? I know, this is a broad question, but I think this is for the best as this thread then maybe even has use for other users.
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Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.
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Apple
It seems to get derided a lot here, but none of your data is harvested and tied to you or sold. It’s aggregated and anonymised if it’s sent off device, and I stopped using Proton drive when you could finally encrypt iCloud storage. I even use their email as default now since it’s not reading my messages and selling my info like outlook started doing.
I was considering to switch to apple for this reason, but I’ve read that in terms of privacy, there’s no significant difference between a Pixel Android with Stock OS and an iPhone. This made me hesitant. I really just want things to go smooth and hasslefree without being spied on and coerced… Do you, by chance, have any reading material on the privacy of apple services I could read up on?
Apple really doesn’t advertise. The data never leaves apple. Everyone else sells your information.
“Apple… is the most privacy-conscious firm out there. Apple only stores the information that is necessary to maintain users’ accounts. This is because their website is not… reliant on advertising revenue. “
Source: https://9to5mac.com/2022/08/25/apple-collect-less-data-than-other-companies/
Two I use a lot daily are KeePass 2 in various versions, computer as well as tablet. I used KeePass “original” 1 for years, but moved to 2/XC/DX. Occasionally also used for storing notes and not just passwords.
My notetaker, all hands down, though. Joplin, with encryption activated, the file stored for syncing on my privacy oriented community’s encrypted NextCloud. I am an avid notetaker, both digital and analogue, and Joplin really fits my needs.
OK, third, honourable mention: Veracrypt
As a paranoid I’ve started writing my own note taking app, and I’m very happy knowing what it doesn’t do.
KitchenOwl, an Android app to organize recipes, ingredients and shopping lists, it’s FOSS and available on f-droid.
Freetube on PC has really changed it up for me. Vencord over Discord is another I’ve not seen mentioned yet, basically strips out the telemetry and sandboxes the application.
Pair Libre redirect with Freetube and that’s been my worry free YouTube experience during all of this anti adblocker business.
Oh yeah totally forgot to mention that! An absolute must if you have freetube indeed 🙌
Vaultwarden, linkding, Snikket, Miniflux, and some more.
e/os on the phone was a game changer but mostly just accepting that digital privacy is not going to work if you cannot take a step back from tech and accept that the transaction is your data in exchange for access to new shiny toys you don’t need that will never belong to you no matter what they cost.
I am finally really happy with my privacy setup, I am not feeling like there’s anything more I need (or want) to do at the moment…
@politicalcustard @lens17 If you’re open to advice or ideas, I highly recommend setting up a VPN in your router. That makes sure all devices in your home are protected at all times, and avoid the matrix protocol for all purposes, as it’s by Amdocs under the guise of New Vector and The Element Foundation.
It’s a more complex setup to have vpn active on your router though. It’s not noob proof, because you’ll get blocked from websites like Netflix. I have an openwrt based router that allows be to use device based vpn policies, which is more efficient and effective
That’s a good idea about the VPN on the router but it’s just my computer and phone that connect to the internet and I maintain a non-“smart” home. It would be nice for guests though. That’s interesting about Matrix, I didn’t know about that. Sadly, for the moment it will be something I have to live with; I’m in a few groups that use Matrix, but it’s good to know though, thanks.
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If I am being completely honest, there are very few. Convenience is consistently the #1 trade-off when I make privacy-based decisions about which applications and services to use.
An exception I can think of are ad and tracker blockers like uBlock Origin, iodé, etc - I cannot imagine life without them Any time I borrow the phone or computer of someone who doesn’t have an equivalent of these installed I am just blown away by how many ads they are confronted with while performing even the simplest tasks. And not just harmless ones, but ads that directly waste their time. I genuinely don’t understand how people can live like that unless they just don’t know there is an alternative.
I guess another one I can think of is the Aurora Store. The UI is so much cleaner than the Google Play Store’s, important settings and features aren’t hidden and it has some additional features like Exodus Report that I think are genuinely useful. It’s so superior as an application that I actually prefer using it even on devices where the Play Store is installed and working.
NC isnt perfect imo but its like having an open source car or house. Its not emergency ready like no downtime, no bugs, no issues but it will do 95% uptime if configured correctly and its is insanely versatile. I cant imagine any other app being this versatile. You can check my setup if you want.
What’s NC? Got a link?
Edit: Ah, NextCloud, I’m assuming…
Nextcloud, yes. It is insane. Its a full cloud experience. Documents, bookmarks, pictures, whiteboards and more.
Niether are open source, but the full versions of AdGuard for each platform, Adguard Public DNS and DuckDuckGo.
Monero. No more fighting with banks locking me out of my accounts or blocking my transactions.
Monero ftw! Limitless Peace
I don’t understand. How does this bring you peace? Can you pay groceries with monero?
i wonder why this happens. are you from somewhere where this is common or were your transactions shady? i only got my bank block one transaction for me and that was because i didn’t know i had to ‘activate’ the ability to send money to accounts in the eu
Likely its because of all the other privacy tools that I use. Banks don’t like it when they can’t track you. Every time they think I have a new device. They interpret “oh shit we can’t track this person between sessions” as “its suspicious! Lock the account!” …even though I use the correct username & password on the very first try. Smh
Ultimately this is the result of Machine Leaning algorithms, but terrible ones because they never learn that they false positive 100% of the time on my account.
Anyway, this is never an issue with monero. The transactions can’t be blocked. It literally works every time. And I hold the keys, so I don’t have to worry about loosing my money because my bank gets hacked (or someone calls them with the knowledge of my mother’s maiden name and the last 4 street addresses I had, and uses this public information to reset my password and steal my money)